Dynamic information storage or retrieval – Dynamic mechanism subsystem – Specific detail of storage medium support or motion production
Reexamination Certificate
1999-10-12
2002-05-14
Miller, Brian E. (Department: 2652)
Dynamic information storage or retrieval
Dynamic mechanism subsystem
Specific detail of storage medium support or motion production
Reexamination Certificate
active
06388983
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a clamp mechanism for a disk drive suitable for use in an optical disk drive and the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A clamp mechanism for a conventional disk drive will be explained with reference to FIG.
10
and
FIG. 11. A
support member
51
is comprised of a chassis
52
including a hole
52
a
on the center thereof and a bent part
52
b
with a section of L-letter shape, and a support plate
53
having a magnetic plate
63
, fixed to the chassis
52
so as to cover an upper hole of the chassis
52
.
And, between the chassis
52
and the support plate
53
is made up a housing space
54
.
A clamper
55
is comprised of a clamping part
55
a
made of a synthetic resin being a non-magnetic material, a neck part
55
b
formed integrally with the clamping part
55
a,
which has a smaller diameter than the clamping part
55
a,
a flange part
55
c
affixed to the neck part
55
b,
and a magnet
56
placed inside thereof.
And, the neck part
55
b
is inserted through the hole
52
a
of the chassis
52
, the flange part
55
c
is contained in the housing space
54
, the clamping part
55
a
is suspended on the lower part of the chassis
52
, and the flange part
55
c
is suspended on the upper part of the chassis
52
; and the clamper
55
is made vertically movable to the chassis
52
.
A cushioning member
57
is made of a ring rubber or the like, and the cushioning member
57
is attached on the support plate
53
inside the housing space
54
.
And, the clamper
55
is placed on the upper part, since the magnet
56
is attracted by the magnetic plate
63
. In this state, the flange part
55
c
is in contact with the cushioning member
57
, which functions as a shock absorber when the clamper
55
moves upward.
A drive member
58
is comprised of a drive plate
59
of which one end is rotatably supported and the other end is made vertically movable, a vertically movable motor
60
fixed to the other end of the drive plate
59
, and a turntable
61
set about a spindle
60
a
of the motor
60
, which is vertically movable together with the motor
60
.
And, the turntable
61
is provided with a magnetic plate
61
a
on the upper side thereof, and when the turntable
61
moves up, the magnet
56
of the clamper
55
makes a transition from attraction with the magnetic plate
63
on the support plate
53
to attraction with the magnetic plate
61
a.
A mount member
62
is made of a metal plate having a hole
62
a.
The mount member
62
is placed between the clamper
55
and the turntable
61
to mount a disk D.
Next, the operation of the conventional clamp mechanism for a disk drive will be discussed. In the non-clamped state in
FIG. 10
, the clamper
55
is located on the upper part where the magnet
56
is attracted by the magnetic plate
63
, and the turntable
61
is located on lower part.
First, in this state, the disk D is carried to the drive member
58
from a package or the like by a carrying member (not illustrated), and it is mounted on the mount member
62
, as shown in FIG.
10
.
Then, a drive motor (not illustrated) is driven to rotate the drive plate
59
so as to raise the other end upward.
And, as shown in
FIG. 11
, the turntable
61
moves upward with the disk D, and as the turntable
61
approaches the clamper
55
, the clamper
55
is detached from attraction with the magnetic plate
63
into attraction with the magnetic plate
61
a
on the turntable
61
. As a result, the disk D is clamped between the clamper
55
and the turntable
61
.
Next, as the motor
60
is driven to rotate the spindle
60
a,
the disk D is turned through the turntable
61
, thus performing reproduction or recording.
When dismounting the disk D to replace by another, first an eject button is pressed.
Then, the drive motor is driven to move the other end of the drive plate
59
downward, and accordingly the turntable
61
moves down together with the clamper
55
.
And, the clamper
55
is suspended such that the flange part
55
c
is hung on the bent part
52
b
of the chassis
52
. In this state, as the turntable
61
moves down further, the turntable
61
with the disk D goes down, and the attraction between the turntable
61
and the clamper
55
is released.
As the result, as shown in
FIG. 10
, the clamper
55
returns to the state of being attracted to the magnetic plate
63
by the magnet
56
, and the turntable
61
is located downward to restore the initial state that the disk D is mounted on the mount member
62
.
Then, the disk D is to be carried by the carrying member outside the drive member
58
.
In the clamp mechanism for a conventional disk drive thus described, since the clamper
55
is attracted by the magnetic plate
63
in the non-clamped state of the disk D, if the disk drive receives vibrations and shocks, the clamper
55
will be released from attraction with the magnetic plate
63
, thus creating displacement of the clamper
55
, which is a problem to be resolved.
Further, the conventional clamp mechanism requires the support plate
53
, magnetic plate
63
, and cushioning member
57
, etc., which increases not only the number of the components but also the production cost, and deteriorates the productivity.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
As the first means to solve the aforementioned problems, the clamp mechanism for a disk drive of the present invention is configured with a turntable placed to be vertically movable, a clamper facing to the turntable, which is mounted on a support member such as a chassis so as to be movable in a direction of approaching and detaching from the turntable, and a holding arm that can be engaged with and released from the clamper, wherein the turntable and the clamper are made to be attracted to each other by a magnetic force, the holding arm releases the clamper from a lifted-up state when the turntable is lifted up, a disk is clamped between the turntable and the clamper by attraction of the turntable and the clamper by the magnetic force, the disk is released from being clamped when the turntable is lowered, and the holding arm lifts up the clamper to maintain the lifted-up state of the clamper.
As the second means to solve the problems, the clamp mechanism is configured such that the clamper is attached perforating through the support member, and is provided with a clamping part that underlies the support member and a flange part that overlies the support member, and the holding arm lifts up the flange part to press the flange part to the support member.
As the third means to solve the problems, the clamp mechanism is configured such that the holding arm is provided with a slant part that is slant upward against a face of the disk clamped, and the slant part is engaged with the flange part to lift up the clamper.
As the fourth means to solve the problems, the clamp mechanism is configured such that the holding arm is placed to be swingable in a transverse direction against a moving direction of the clamper.
As the fifth means to solve the problems, the clamp mechanism is configured with, in addition to the first means, a drive gear turned by a motor and a clamp lever turned by the drive gear which is associated with lifting movement of the turntable, wherein the clamp lever is formed integrally with the holding arm.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4951277 (1990-08-01), Masunaga et al.
patent: 5060096 (1991-10-01), Hirose et al.
patent: 5204850 (1993-04-01), Obata
patent: 5636198 (1997-06-01), Maeng
patent: 5748606 (1998-05-01), Nakagawa et al.
patent: 5764612 (1998-06-01), Tanaka et al.
patent: 5825746 (1998-10-01), Lee
patent: 5831948 (1998-11-01), Suzuki
patent: 5970044 (1999-10-01), Kambayashi et al.
patent: 6097693 (2000-08-01), Nakamichi
patent: 6201782 (2001-03-01), Tanaka et al.
patent: 6233218 (2001-05-01), Hoffmann
Alps Electric Co. ,Ltd.
Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione
Miller Brian E.
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